Press: Tiger brings Ryanair model to Australia

12 February 2007

Tiger Airways is likely to bring the Ryanair model of flying into cheaper, regional airports to Australia when it gets the go-ahead to operate here, chief executive Tony Davis said. Tiger Airlines, which is backed by Singapore Airlines and Ryanair founder Tony Ryan, last week announced it had applied for government clearance to begin operating in the domestic market before the end of the year.

Davis was coy on the routes Tiger will operate in Australia, saying he did not want to tip off the competition—Qantas and its budget arm Jetstar as well as Virgin Blue—but said it would amount to a ‘comprehensive network’.

‘At this stage we’re not revealing the route network that we’re going to propose,’ he told ABC Television.

‘We’re going to keep that close to our chest for the time being but, as the regulatory process goes on, we’ll be able to reveal more in the coming months.’

Davis said the new airline would look at flying into small centres rather than just major cities, similar to the operations of Ryanair in Europe and Tiger services in Asia.

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‘Well, certainly the success of people like Ryanair in Europe has been that they could go into secondary airports, to go to regional airports and really create new markets and create new opportunities,’ he said.

‘So, what we’re looking at in Australia is that—we’ll certainly look at the major cities but we’re also keen to bring the advantages of low cost airfares into the regional communities.’ ——-